free agency

There are a lot of jittery Cleveland Cavaliers fans right now. And not just because they had four cups at the Cleveland Coffee Company. Clevelanders woke up this morning to a new landscape. Yesterday morning they were still the most logical place for LeBron James to play — they had shown him a serious commitment…

UPDATE 5:25 pm: This trade has now been confirmed by multiple sources. David Aldridge at NBA.com has some reasoning on why the Wizards would do this deal: The Wizards have coveted the 29-year-old Hinrich for several seasons, wanting his veteran presence in their backcourt and his ability to play both guard spots. Besides his on-court…

As Mick Jagger said: Chris Bosh is not waiting on a lady, he’s just waiting on LeBron. (Well, he said something like that, it was a long time ago and I was pretty stoned last time I heard that song.) Chris Bosh admitted on ESPN radio this morning what we all knew already: LeBron eats…

Carmelo Anthony could be the LeBron James of 2011. I don’t mean the Nuggets have a great regular season only go down a little too easily in the playoffs. Again. No, I mean the free agent stuff– the hype and love from cities around the country that want to lure him in if he would…

It was pointed at as a significant weakness all year, and now it’s looking like the Los Angeles Lakers backcourt, despite being good enough to win a championship, will go through dramatic shakeups this summer. First up is Shannon Brown, or as I like to call him, “King of the Missed Garbage Time Dunk.” NBA…

Do not adjust your computer screen. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Los Angeles Lakers have taken a strong interest in free agent guard Raja Bell, with Kobe Bryant being one of Bell’s strongest advocates. Bell is a “Three-and-D” guard who is best known for his physical brand of defense and his feud…

Kevin Durant can technically become a free agent after next season, but it looks like Durant wants to avoid all of that drama. Durant is eligible to begin negotiating his first contract extension with the Thunder on July 1st. According to the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry, Durant is fully expecting that the contract extension process will go smoothly: …

No real surprise here, we’ve been expecting this for a couple months, but now it is official: John Salmons is going to opt out and test the free agent market. That’s what the Bucks general manager told FanHouse’s Chris Tomasson. “He’s given us indications that he will opt out,” Milwaukee general manager John Hammond, named…

Free agency has a price. Freedom to choose has a price. Everything has a price. Welcome to capitalism. LeBron James wants his freedom. He wants to be a free agent and be wooed by the city of Chicago and have Jay-Z perform “New York” to him in person. But Brian Windhorst notes in the Cleveland…

Ray Allen can still shoot the rock. Remember Game 2 of the NBA finals? A record 8 three pointers? That stroke is still pure. But the man can no longer really carry a team for long. He is a piece of the puzzle, a sharp-shooting role player on a contender now. That has value for…

I’d just like to take a moment and applaud those NBA cities with cap space that haven’t completely degraded themselves in an attempt to grab headlines related to LeBron James by throwing themselves at him with gimmicks. Thanks for that. For the rest of you, here’s your latest competition. The Cleveland Plains Dealer reports that…

From Los Angeles to New York City, fans of teams with cap space from all around the country are mounting guerilla movements to entice LeBron James. Fans are practically pledging everything from their eternal fandom to their first-born children as payment for James’ services, and they’re holding parades, rallies, and animal sacrifices (just guessing on…

Chris Bosh is basketball professional, not a poker professional. But right now he is a little of both. And there are a lot of chips in play. There are a lot of free agent variables — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and whether or not he can lure a running mate to Miami, what Chicago has…

We were all thinking it. But nobody was saying it. Admit it, even those of you in Phoenix were thinking it, even if you couldn’t admit it to yourself. Amare Stoudemire is done in Phoenix. That’s what a source told JA Adande of ESPN. “Amare’s done,” according to the source. “He’s gone.” Stoudemire has made…

Evidently serious issues like murder, drug trafficking and grand theft are not big problems in Miami-Dade County — you get that when Horatio Caine is taking off those sunglasses. That frees up the Miami-Dade County Commissioners to have time to do other important work — like unanimously voting for the area to be known as…

Steve Kerr’s job number one this summer is to re-sign Amare Stoudemire. Make that was job number one. His new job number one is to work out that contract with TNT. Job number two is to stay out of his wife and kids way — they have a routine set. So what happens to the…

While it’s incredibly clear that guys like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will be paid top dollar this off-season, establishing the market for the moderately-skilled free agents is a bit more complex. There will certainly be some teams looking to spend their cap room this summer, regardless of whether that’s on James, Joe Johnson, Carlos…

There is no better time to be a free agent then after a good run in the playoffs. Just ask Hedo Turkoglu. Boston’s Tony Allen is no Turkoglu — on a number of levels — but he is a guy about to be a free agent coming off an impressive NBA finals. Not on offense,…

Toronto has become Cleveland north. “Seriously, we’ll totally remake our roster if you’ll stay. What do you want, a real point guard? We’ll get you one. More help inside? We’re on it. Want a couple more alternate uniforms, too? Whatever you ask. Please just don’t leave.” Toronto is in the midst of a massive roster…

They’ve put together a special edition of the New York Magazine. They’ve offered him his run of a strip club for life. The mayor has made a pitch. So has Diddy. The city of New York has pulled out all the stops in letting LeBron James know it wants him, and it wants him bad.…

Doc Rivers wants Ray Allen back in the green this summer. But after the Celtics shopped the soon-to-be 35 year old this year, there are going to be questions about where he’ll wind up. Saturday, the New York Daily News filed their answer to that question to a certain degree. Reports on the paper’s website…

Nobody can over-value their own worth like congressmen and NBA players. Meet Tyson Chandler. He is a defensive and rebounding specialist who has missed 68 games over the last two years. He is scheduled to make $12.6 million next season in the last year of his contract signed back when he was the best defensive…

It’s all about the money. Amar’e Stoudemire threw a verbal bouquet to Phoenix on the last day of his youth basketball camp. But it came with the caveat — he wants to be paid. The Arizona Republic has the quote. Stoudemire called signing a contract extension with the Suns this month “Plan A.” “Camp colors…

There’s a point to this. Just hang with me. Larry Brown Sports is reporting that Wednesday night Dwyane Wade, along with girlfriend Gabrielle Union, was spotted at a restaurant in LA with Chris Bosh during a small get together. Okay, I’m going to take a second here and let you get your cries of rampant…

Priority one for the Miami Heat this summer is to bring Dwyane Wade back. The Heat aren’t being subtle about that, either. But they have another free agent they want back, too — Udonis Haslem. To show him a little love, they threw a surprise 30th birthday party for him — bringing over 200 people…